Be Alright
by Rose DiVerona
Summary: Set mid-season 6. Kurt and Finn have an honest conversation about Blaine.


A/N: I wrote this several years ago, and fair warning: it's not particularly Blaine-friendly. I don't actually hate Blaine, but at the beginning of Season 6 I had some very strong negative feelings about where the writers were taking the character, and this was the result. I know both Kurt and Blaine had their fair share of flaws, but I was always unapologetically a Kurt-stan, so...

Takes place after "The Hurt Locker: Part Two." Title is a reference to Dean Lewis's song of the same name.

* * *

**Be Alright**

"Hey, dude."

Kurt looked up from his reclined position on the bed to see Finn standing in his doorway. He smiled. "Hi."

Finn shuffled his feet. "So…I heard what happened today. Are you okay?"

Kurt sighed and waved him inside. His stepbrother sat on the side of the bed.

"Coach Sylvester is really determined to get Blaine and I back together."

"And you don't want that?"

"I _want _her to stop interfering. It's actually embarrassing. Blaine is with Dave now." He winced. "That isn't a sentence I ever thought I would say."

"Yeah, it's weird," Finn agreed. "So you _don't _want to be with Blaine?"

Kurt groaned and flopped back on the pillows. "It isn't that simple."

Finn stretched out next to him. "So explain it to me."

He looked serious, so Kurt stared at the ceiling in thought.

"My feelings are kind of a mess right now. Blaine and I aren't the people we used to be, and I'm really not sure it would work anymore." He ran a hand down his face. "I'm beginning to see Blaine in a new light, I think maybe because we've had some space with neither of us trying to get the other back. It's just hard to admit it."

"You don't know if you love Blaine anymore?"

"It isn't that I don't love Blaine. In fact, I think maybe I've loved him too much. He came to me in my time of need like some kind of guardian angel, and I put him on a pedestal. I know that wasn't fair, but he never disabused me of the idea – last year he even talked about how good it felt to protect me when we first met. About how my growing confidence made him uncomfortable. I let that get by, and I shouldn't have. I love the _idea_ of Blaine. And even though I told him we were equals, I think I was still trying to rebuild that broken pedestal, in a way. I didn't see what was right in front of me."

"Love is blind, dude," Finn nodded wisely.

"You didn't like Blaine, at first," Kurt said quietly.

Finn swung his legs over the mattress and sat up. "I think a lot of that was jealousy," he admitted. "I was afraid he was going to take over New Directions. But also…Kurt, he's kind of an ass-hole. I don't think he means to be, but…"

Kurt blinked. "In the four years I've known Blaine, no one has ever said that to me."

Finn looked uncomfortable. "Of course not. You were definitely happy and in love with him, and we—I—thought maybe things would just work out. That you'd make each other better people, or something."

"You said 'we.'"

Finn sighed and laid back down. "Yeah…Rachel and I kind of talked about this last year."

"Rachel?" Kurt said incredulously. "She never showed any disapproval when Blaine and I got engaged."

"I think she was using you and Blaine as proof that people who love each other _can _make it work. You know how Rachel is. And I mean, we both like Blaine as a person, as a friend. We just don't think he's good enough for you."

Kurt laughed. "You're my brother and Rachel's my best friend. You're supposed to say things like that."

Finn shrugged. "Maybe we should talk about something else."

"No," Kurt said decisively. "I need to get over Blaine, so we're going to heat up some milk and you're going to tell me all about how Blaine's an ass-hole."

"You really want to hear this? You want me to trash your ex?" Finn wrinkled his nose. "Isn't that something you're supposed to do with your girl friends?"

"Maybe, but you're the only one who's done me the courtesy of being honest and seeing as none of them are around…"

**:**

Ten minutes later, they were resettled on Kurt's bed. Kurt settled against the headboard and crossed his legs. He fixed Finn with an expectant look.

"Start at the beginning."

Finn sighed and blew on his drink.

"Okay. So the first time I noticed anything was at Rachel's party junior year. The one where we played Spin the Bottle and she kissed Blaine. I mean, okay, it _was _Spin the Bottle, but everyone saw the way you looked at Blaine, and it was like he didn't even care."

"Blaine has never been a good drunk," Kurt admitted. "Case in point—Scandals, senior year. But you couldn't have been too upset with him—he _was _drunk."

Finn nodded. "But he wasn't drunk when he went out with Rachel. It was shitty for Rachel to ask him out, and it was especially shitty of him to accept."

"He was questioning his identity," Kurt rationalized.

"You called bull on that one way back when it happened," Finn pointed out. "And fine, so he wants to go on a date with a girl. It _shouldn't _have been one of your friends."

"Rachel and I weren't close when that happened."

Finn rolled his eyes. "Let's put it this way. Imagine if I really liked Tina and she knew it, and Mike knew it, but he asked her out anyway and she said yes."

Kurt wrinkled his nose. "You and Tina? Not the best example."

Finn put his mug on the nightstand so he could faceplant on the bedspread.

"You're missing the _point_."

"No," Kurt sighed. "I don't think I am. I think I'm still making excuses for Blaine."

Finn sat up. "Let's move on. We'll skate past Blaine playing Tony in West Side Story when the role would have helped your resume for NYADA."

"Blaine was a better Tony—"

"Skating past," Finn said pointedly. "What about that Sebastian guy? He was all over Blaine and Blaine didn't shoot him down. And then he got mad at you for texting another guy?"

"That was wrong of me," Kurt said firmly.

"Doesn't mean Blaine wasn't being a hypocrite. And then you move to New York and less than a month later he cheats on you and tries to tell you it was because he figured you'd already moved on? I know I don't have any high ground here because I cheated with Quinn when she was dating Sam, but as your brother, I gotta say that was a really sucky move."

Kurt nodded, his eyes sad as he remembered that horrible night in New York. "I wasn't sure if I could ever forgive him."

Finn played with a corner of Kurt's comforter. "Did you know he was thinking about proposing before you two even got back together?"

Kurt's eyebrows flew up. "That was…ambitious of him."

Finn nodded. "Sam told me, and then Burt mentioned Blaine talked to him about it."

"_What?_" Kurt hissed indignantly. "He talked to _Dad_ about marrying me when we were broken up? I'll need to have a chat with Dad about that."

"I want you to know I didn't have anything to do with that that proposal extravaganza. Nobody told me anything about it, probably because they knew I'd try to stop it. Rachel called me after."

"I _did _say yes."

"Yeah, but the way I heard it, you really didn't have any other option. And he shouldn't have asked when you guys had just made up. I think…" He trailed off.

"What?"

"I don't want to hurt your feelings."

"That's why we're having this discussion. Hurt feelings. Don't backpedal on that honesty now, Finn Hudson."

Finn raised his hands in surrender and turned his whole body to face his brother. "Look, I know Blaine loved you, I'm not saying that didn't have a lot to do with it, okay? It's just…I think the proposal was also another way to apologize, to prove he could be loyal to you. To make sure you would be loyal to him."

"He _was _really mistrusting of me and Elliott," Kurt mused.

"I thought you'd be more upset, hearing this," Finn admitted.

"This is a boyfriend bashing, it's your job to make me hate Blaine right now so I can move on. If I need to cry, I'll do it later."

Finn snorted. "Okay, but that's the thing: trust. He didn't trust you with Chandler or Elliott. He was afraid you'd find someone else all the time. And then he lied to you about that showcase with June."

"How do you know about that?" Kurt frowned.

"Not important. How could he expect you to trust him when he didn't trust you?"

"That was a big part of why it didn't work, me and Blaine living alone in the loft in the city. I thought I could be mature and end things and move on, but obviously that hasn't worked. Blaine seemed happy enough to move on Dave Karofsky."

"The final nail in the coffin," Finn declared. "Dave might be a nice guy now and all, but there was a time he terrorized you. There's got to be some rule against dating your ex-fiance's ex-bully."

Kurt's lips twitched. "I think that scenario's a little too specific to merit a rule."

"Technically, Blaine had every right to move on, but he chose the _one _person who should have been off-limits."

"Because Lima, Ohio is such a hub for LGBT activity," Kurt said dryly.

Finn ignored him. "And on top of that, you and I both know Karofsky is not Blaine's type. I don't know if he really likes him, is trying to convince himself to like him, or is just trying to make you jealous. Maybe a little of all three. But he's stringing you along and it needs to stop."

Now there were tears in Kurt's eyes. "So you're basically saying Blaine is a selfish, insecure, immature guy."

"He's a good guy. He's a selfish, insecure, and immature _boyfriend_." Kurt sniffled and Finn put an arm around him. "I'm sorry. I know it seems like those things don't matter when you're in love. I know you think it'll get better with Blaine. But I don't think he's ready for the kind of relationship you are, and I think you deserve to put the past behind you and lead that glamorous New York City life you've always wanted."

Kurt wiped his eyes. "I know he can be a little…well…but none of us is perfect."

Finn shook his head immediately. "No, we're not. And if Blaine were having this conversation with his brother, I'm sure they'd have things to say about you. But I'm _your _brother and I'm on _your _side, and you said you wanted to trash Blaine, so there you go."

"I definitely have a lot to think about," Kurt sighed. "I know you're right, but I still have to figure out how to let him go. Maybe coming back to Lima was a bad idea."

Finn squeezed his shoulder. "Remember, you've got Rachel in your corner, and I know Santana can be a bitch, but I'm pretty sure she really likes you. And there's Burt, and my mom. They may like Blaine, but if you make it clear it's over and you need to move one, they'll back you one hundred percent."

"And I'll have you, right?"

Finn smiled. "I will always be here, Kurt."

Kurt smiled and closed his eyes.

"Hey, Finn? Thanks."

There was no reply, and Kurt opened his eyes to see that his brother was gone, and he was alone on the bed. Frowning, he opened his door and started down the hallway to his brother's bedroom. Trepidation began to build in his stomach. Swallowing, he pushed the door open. In an instant, everything washed over him.

Finn was dead. Had been dead for over a year.

Kurt slid down the wall and stared blankly at the empty room. It had been a dream. Or a hallucination. Or whatever.

He leaned forward and hugged his knees, tears pricking in his eyes. They began to spill down his cheeks, tears for Finn and Blaine and the future that would never happen. Blinking rapidly, he noticed something wedged under the baseboard, left behind when the family cleaned out Finn's room. He reached over and tugged it free.

It was a picture. A picture of he and Finn at their parents' wedding. Finn had his arm around Kurt and they were both beaming.

_And when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for awhile…"_

Suddenly feeling better, Kurt climbed to his feet.

'I will always be here, Kurt.' That's what imaginary Finn had said, and even though Kurt didn't really believe in God, he felt that Finn was indeed there, somehow.

Kurt shut Finn's door and started down the stairs. He needed to talk to Blaine.


End file.
